Machine for filling and closing bags.



J. N. CROWLEY. 11110111113 FOR FILLING AND ULOSING BAGS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APR. 19, 1905.

Patented Feb.15,1910.

7. sums-1111111111 1.

J. U QWLEY. MACHINE FOR PILLh. AND CLOSING BAGS.

AZPPLIOATION FILED APR. 19, 1905.

949,6?5D Patented Feb.15,1910.

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MACHINE FOR FILLING AND CLOSING BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1905. 949 Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

7 SHEETS-SHEET a.

J. N. CROWLEY.

MACHINE FOR FILLING AND CLOSING BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1905.

9%,W5o Patented Feb.15,1910.

' 7 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Jrwmxfa r Jaye ob A4 Cra J. N. CROWLEY. v MACHINE FOR FILLING ANDCLOSING BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1905.

Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

7 SHEETSSHEET 5.

gum

J. N. CROWLEY.

MACHINE FOR FILLING AND CLOSING BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1905.

Patented Feb. 15, I910.

'7 SHEETS$HEET 6.

J. N. CROWLEY. MACHINE FOR FILLING AND GLOSING BAGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1905.

M WSD Patented Feb. 15, mm

7 SHEEN-SHEET 7.

JOSEPH N. CROWLEY, .OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

MACHINE FOR FILLING AND CLOSING BAGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 19,1905. Serial No. 256,480.

Patented Feb. 15, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH N. CROWLEY, residing at Toledo, in the countyof Lucas and State of Ohio, a citizen of the United States, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Filling andClosingBags, of which the following is a specificatmn, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawlngs.

The invention relates to machines for filling and closing bags, and 1s'more particularly designed for use in the filling of bags with tobacco.

In the preparation of certain grades of chewing tobacco, the cut leavesare mixed with a molasses or syrup, resulting in a sticky mass which isdifficult to handle.

Heretofore, tobacco of this character has usually been placed in bags byhand operation and it is the object of the present inven-.'

tion to provide automatic mechanism for accomplishing this purpose. Thedifficulties encountered arefirst due 'to the stlcky nature of thesubstance and sec0nd,.to the fact that any pressure upon the substanceWlll tend to compact it and destroy its value. These difliculties'havebeen overcome by the prescut construction of machine as hereinafter setforth. Inthe drawings, Flgure 1 1s a long1tud1- nal section, partly inelevation of the ma-' chine; Fig. 2 is'a sectional plan view thereof;Fig. 3 is an elevation of the bag filler; Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinalsections therethrough, illustratin .the operation of the fillingmechanism; *ig. 6 is an elevatlon of the mechanism for the completion ofthe fill- ,ing operation; Fig. 7 is a erspective view of the bag closingmechanism, illustrating the first of its operations; Fig. 8 is a planview thereof; Flg. 9 is a perspective view showing the second operation;Fig. 1 0 is a sectional elevation illustrating the third operation; Fig.11 is a perspect1veview,.showing the final operation of closing the baFig. 12 is a erspective View illustrating t e mechanism or dropping thefilled bag from i the machine; Fig. 13 is an elevation of the crimpingmechanism; Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the actuating mechanism forlowering the bag holder.

In general construction, the machine comprises a series of bag fillingdevices and a revoluble carrier upon which said filling devices aremounted and by which they are carried into operative relation to thecoiiperating mechamsm. There is also associated wit the carrier,mechanism'forclosing the bags when filled and for ejecting them whenclose as will be hereinafter described.

. In the construction referably employed, the revoluble member .isin theform of a circular table, which is journaled 'upon a base C. The table Ais intermittently .driven throu h partial rotations b means of the starwfieel D, which is provi ed with open-ended radial slots a andintervening concave segments b.

E is a rotary head carrying a roll E for .engagin with the slots at andwith/a segmental ange E for enga ing with the conis disengage from theslots and thereby locking the star wheel from movement. The head E ismounted upon a vertical shaft F, which is driven through the bevel gearwheels 'F, shaft F and ears F from a motor G or other source ofpower.

, The material to'be placed in the bags is separated into quantitles ofproper weight preferably by hand or by mechanism form- 111 no par of thepresent invention, which re ates to t e filling and bagclosing devices.The filling mechanism comprises a series of filler tubes H, each ofwhich is of a size to fit within the bags and is flared at its upper endto form a receiver. These tubes are lpreferably detachably secured to arevolu- 1ev carrier frame I, which is mounted upon the post B and isconnected through th .medlum ofthe ostsIf, head J and post J with thetable so as to revolve therewith and all together forming a revolublecarrier.

The engagI ment between the tubes H and the frame is illustratedin Fig.4, in which I are grooved ways projecting from the periphery of theframe I and H are flanges upon the tubes H, which are adapted forengagement, with said ways. Thus, the tubes may be quickly removed fromor engaged with the frame I, and while disengaged the bags to be filledare sleeved upon the tubes.

11 vertical alinement with each of the tubes His a bag-holder K, whichis mounted for vertical reciprocation upon the table A.

This holder is formed preferably of two separable sections a and d,which are arcave b durin the interva' in which the roll post or column Bmounted upon a suitable ranged to be moved laterally in relation to eachother to open or close the holder. To permit of this combined verticaland lateral movement of the holders K, they are preferably secured tothe table A through the medium of levers L and L fulcrumed upon thetable and extending outward beyond the periphery thereof. Each of theselevers is provided with bearings e, in which are vertically slidinglysecured the rods M having momted on their upper ends the sections a N isa bifurcated lever embracing the sections 0, d, of the holder K andengaging pins 0, d thereon, said lever being fulcrumed at upon the headJ of the carrier. These evers N are preferably in the form of bellcranks and carry on their short arms 9, antifriction rolls 9 whichengage with a cam groove h, formed in a stationary head 0 mounted on theost B. The arrangement is such that in the rotation of the carrier, therolls g will travel around the cam groove h, which is so fashioned as tocause a movement of theJo'ell cranks N and a consequent verticalmovement of the holders K and rods M.

The function of the bag holders above described is first to hold the bagin position upon the filler tube H, and second, to move the bag downwardduring the operation of transferring the material from the filler tubeinto the bag, so as to prevent compacting. There is a urther function ofholding the filled bag during the operation of the closin mechanism, andthe final ejection of the filed and closed bag by the separation of thesections of the holder. These functions are successively performedduringone revolution of the carrier, so that by the time the holders havecompleted their revolution they have gone through the entire cycle ofmovements and are ready to repeat the same. These successive movementswill now be described in detail, in connection with the cooperatingmechanism.

The ba s are placed on the detached filler tubes by t e operator whothen places a tube with the bag thereon in engagement with the ways I onthe frame I of the carrier,

preferabl at the point indicated by the numeral 1 Fig. 2) in thedrawings. During the succeeding movement of the carrier, the roll g, intraveling around the cam groove It will actuate its correspondingbell-crank lever N, so as to raise the-bag holder K and slip the sameover the filler tube H and the bag thereon. By the time the filler tubehas reached the point indicated by the numeral 2 (Fig. 2), the bagholder has been completely raised, and at'this position the material tobe filled into the ba is placed in the hopper of the filler tube. t thenext stopping .point of the carrier, indicated by the numeral 3 (Fig.2), is arranged a plunger P, the shank of which is vertically slidablymounted in bearings Q on the bracket arm Q, secured to the upper end ofthe post or column B. The lunger is act-uated by a lever B, which islcrumed at R and at its inner end is connected by the rod R passingdownward through the hollow column B with a bell crank lever S actuatedby a revoluble cam S. This cam is mounted upon the shaft F, beforedescribed, and during the continuous rotation of said shaft, the cam isrevolved and at certain points in its rotation, will impart movement tothe bell crank S to cause a corresponding movement of the plunger P.

The plunger P is of a form to exactly fit within the filler tube H andduring the interval when said tube is arranged at point 3,the

plunger will be depressed, thereby forcingthe material within the tubedownward. multaneous with this 0 eration, the bag holder K is depressedand at the same rate of movement, so that the material ejected from thelower end of the filler tube will be placed in the bag withoutcompression. Inasmuch as the depression of the bag holder occurs duringthe interval of rest of the carrier, it is obvious that the stationarycam it cannot be utilized to impart the. necessary movement to the bellcrank N. A separate actuating device is therefore provided, comprising aslide T enga ing a radial channel in the head 0. This slide is providedwith a recess T which is initially in registration with the cam grooveit, through which the roll 9 'travels durin the movement of the fillertube H to statlon point 3. Thus, in. the final movement of the carrier,the roll g passes out from the cam groove it into the recess T of theslide T.. This slide is connected by a link T and bell crank lever Twith a rod U, passing downward'through the hollow column, and connectedat lts lower end with a bell crank lever U, one end of which is providedwith a roll engaging a second cam groove U in the cam wheel S. This camgroove is so fashioned thatduring the perlod of rest of the carrier, theslide T will be moved outward in the radial slotand will thereby actuatethe bell crank lever N to depress the ba holder K, as has been beforedescribed. A ter this movement of the slide, the-roll g will be held ina osition in registration with a portion h o the cam groove h, so thatthe succeeding movement of the carrier will rengage the roll with thiscam and groove.

In the next succeeding movement of the carrier, the bag holder havingthe filled bag therein is transferred to station point 4 (Fig. 2) wherethe topofthe bag is folded to close the same by mechanism of thefollowing construction :V is a rock shaft j our- I on the bed C andextending in a horizontal planeradially in relation .to the table A.This shaft is longitudinally slidable as well as revoluble'in'itsbearings and is reciprocated lo'n 'tudinally by a ever V having abifurcate u per end embracing a grooved collar V on t e shaft andengaging the same by pins V. At the inner end of the shaft is a foldinplate V".which in normal position exten is upward, but which may beturned by a: partial rotation of the shaftv into a horizontal plane.This rocking of the shaft is effected b a rock arm V feathered upon theshaft In normal position of parts, the rock shaft V which is in a. planeslightly above the bag holder in its lowered position is with-drawnoutward, so as to clear the path of the bag in the holder durin itsmovement from station 3 to station 4. en at the latter point, the shaft.V is first-moved inward by the operation of the lever V after which theactuation of the rock arm V will cause a rockin of the shaft and theturning of the late asindicated in Fig. 7, so as to fold ownward oneside of the bag projecting above the holder. The ends of the bag arethen folded by oppositely moving fingers W and W. These are secured-toparallelly arranged rods Wand W ,-wh1ch are connected by a lever W whichcausesthem to move oppositely in relation to each other.

One of these rods is connected to a rock arm I W adapted at-the pro ertime to reciprocate the rod to cause t e operatlon of the folding fingerattached thereto and through the medium .of the lever W simultaneously 1actuate the opposed fingen. The rods W",

W are supported upon a table W upon which is also fulcrumed the lever W.This table is arranged just above the upper end 1 of the bag holder andis in the path of the bag as it is moved by the carrier from stationpoint {tto station point 5. Thus, after one sideand the ends of the baghave been folded by the mechanism described, the movement of thebaholder will carry the bag beneath the tab e W which will fold down the.remaining side.

After the bag has been folded'in the manner described, it ispreventedfr'om again opening by a crimping mechanism arranged at stationpoint 5. This, as illustrated in Fig. 11, com rises a plate X of a sizeto fit the top of the closed bag, said plate being carried by alaterally extending arm X secured to the vertically movable rod X whichis slidably secured in bearings X The lower end of this rod extendsi'nroxiuiity to a cam X upon a shaft X WhlCh is driven through the mediumof bevel gear wheels X from a shaft X and the latter is driven throughthe medium of bevel gear naled bearings in a vertical standard V Vwheels-X from theshaft F. The cam X spring X on the rod X, the effectbeing to strike a sharp blow upon the bag and cause the creasing orbending of the paper, so as to give apermanent set or crimp.

The shaft X upon which the bevel gear wheel X is mounted extends-outwardand has secured. thereto a cam wheel Y for op- .erating the foldermechanism. The actuating connections between this cam and the A foldercomprise two anti-friction rolls i and 7' respectively engagin cam oovesu on opposite sides of the w eel an an antiriction roll is engaging theperiphery ofthe wheel. These rolls are respectively con- .nectedtovertically slidable rods Z, m, n.

The rod Z is connected by a link 0 with the lever V which is in the formof a bell crank. The rod m is connected by a link p with a rock arm q'ona rock shaftg' upon which the rock arm .W is secured. The rod 91. isconnected .to therock arm V. Thus, the single cam wheel ,Y is'used toactuate all of the parts of the folder mechanism.

As soon as the crimping of the bag has been efi'ected, the sections 0, dof the holder are separated to permit of. the disen agement of the beeffected by the 0 lowing mechanism: Z is a cam upon the shaft X whichengages a lever Z for actuating a slide Z arranged radially of anannular head Z mounted on posts Z on the bed. This annular head Z 1sprovided with an annular channel r with "which a roll 1' on a rock arm 8en ages.

The rock arm 8 is secured to a vertica rock shaft t journaled inbearings upon the carrier A and provided at its upper end withoppositely extending rock arms a connected by links 0 with the levers Land L. The slide Z is arranged to extend across the path of. the channel1* and is rovided with a recess a, which is normal y in registrationwith' said channel 1" and forms a complementary portion thereof. Thechannel 1' is concentric with the axis of the revoluble carrier A, andas a consequence during the movement of the carrier the roll 1" willtravel around this channel without imparting any rocking movement to theshaft t.

7 Thus, the levers L and L will remain stationary and in a positionWhere the sections 0 and d of the bag holder are closed. When, however,"the roll a engages with the recess 1' of the slide Z at station oint 5,movement is imparted to said sli e from the cam Z through the-medium ofthe lever therefrom, this. elng" Z, and this will cause a rockingmovement of the arm, .9 and rock shaft t which in turn actuates'l' itherock arm a and li-nks v to separate the ;f; l'evers L and L anfigthesections 0, d carried thereby. Whe'n' thus separated, the filled andclosed bag will drop out as indicated in Fig. 12.

In the above description only one set of levers L and L and bell cranklever N have been described but it will be understood that each of thebag holders K is provided with a set of levers which are successivelyoperated during the movement of the carrier in the manner described.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a bag filling machine, thecombination with an open-ended filler tube adapted for the sleeving of abag on the lower end the upper end of thereof, a reciprocating plungerfor entering said tube and ejecting the material therein fromthe lowerend thereof, a bag holder embracing the bag sleeved upon said tube, andmeans for lowering said bag holder simultaneously and correspondinglywith the movement of said plunger, whereby the bag is filled withoutcompacting the material.

' 2. A bag filling machine, comprising an open-ended filler tube adaptedfor the sleeving of the bag on its lower end, a bag holder embracingsaid bag upon said tube, a plunger, means for reciprocating said plungerto enter the upper end of said tube and eject the material therein fromthe lower end thereof mechanism simultaneously and correspondinglyactuated for lowering said bag holder, and means for subsequentlydisengaging the filled bagfrom said holder.

" 3. In a bag filling machine, the combination with a revoluble carrier,of an openended filler tube and a bag holder mounted upon said carrierand in vertical alinement, means for reciprocating said bag holdervertically in relation to said filler tube, a plunger arranged toregister with the upper end of said filler tube during the interval ofrest of said carrier, means for reciprocating said plunger to eject thematerial from said tube simultaneously and correspondingly with thelowering of said bag holder.

4. In a bag filling machine, a revoluble carrier, means forintermittently actuating said carrier, a series of filler tubes mountedthereon, a plunger arranged to register with said tubes duringsuccessive intervals of rest of the carrier, mechanism for actuatingsaid plunger to eject the material from the lower.

end of the registering filler tube, a bag holder for each filler tube,and means for lowering said bag holder simultaneously andcorrespondingly with the downward movement .of said plunger, whereby thematerial is placed in the bags without compression.

5. In a bag filling machine, the combinapaper t-( prevent the re-opening0 tion with a revoluble carrier and means for intermittently, actuatingsaid carrier, of a filler tube adapted for the sleeving of a bag thereondetachably engaging said carrier, a bag holder mounted on said carrierin alinement with said filler tube, means operating during the travel ofsaid, carrier for raising said bag holder to embrace the bag ,on saidfiller tube, a plunger arranged to register with said filler tube duringan interval of rest of said carrier, and means for correspondingly andsimultaneously depressing said plunger andsaid bag holder, for thepurpose described.

6. In abag machine, a revoluble carrier, means for intermittentlyactuating said'carrier, a series of radially extending; ways at theperiphery of said carrier, filler tubes adapted for the sleeving of abag thereon and for detachable engagement with said ways, a bag holderin alinement with each filler tube when in engagement with said ways andmounted for vertical reciprocation upon said carrier, aplunger forejecting the. material from said filler tubes and means forsimultaneously depressing the corresponding bag holder, for the purposedescribed.

7. In a bag filling and closing machine, the combination with arevoluble carrier, of a filler tube mounted thereon, a bag holder inalinement with said filler .tube, means for transferring the materialfrom said filler tube to the bag in said holder and folding mechanismwith which said bag holder registers during the movement of said carrierfor closing the top of the bag, and mechanism for crimping the closedtop to prevent the re-opening of the bag.

8. In a bag filling and closing machine,

the combination with a revoluble carrier, of

a bag holder mounted thereon, means for filling the bag mechanismsubsequently operating for foldin close the same and a crimping deviceconsistingof a plate registering with the top of the bag holder, andmeans for depressing said plate to crease the open ed eiofbthe t e ag.

9. In a bag filling machine, a revoluble carrier, a series of fillertubes mounted there-.

on, a corresponding series of bag holders in alinement with said fillertubes and each formed of separable sections, means for verticallyreciprocating said holders to engage or disengage the same from saidfiller tubes, and means for laterally moving the sect-ions of saidholder to separate the same.

10. A bag filling machine comprising a revoluble carrier, a filler tubemounted in the upper portion of said carrier, a bag holder in verticalalinement therewith formed in separable sections, laterally movablelevers with which the respective sections of said holder have avertically sliding the top of said bag to engagement, means for raisingand lowering said holder in relation to said filler tube, and means foroperating said levers to separate the sections of said holder.

7 11. A bag filling machine comprising a vertical column, a revolublecarrier journaled upon said column, a filler tube mounted on saidcarrier, a bag holder in alinement with said filler tube mounted forVertical movement upon the lower portionof said carrier, 'a lever forraising and lowering said bag holder, and a stationary cam mounted onsaid column engaging with said lever to actuate the same durnig themovement of the carrier.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH N. CROWLEY.

Witnesses:

M. B. MCCARTHY, M. C. NOLAN.

